English As A Second Language Children Research Articles

Parent and teacher perceptions of ESL and non-ESL preschoolers’ school readiness

In this study, we explore parent and teacher perceptions of school readiness (SR) among 4-year-olds learning English as a second language (ESL) and native English-speaking 4-year-olds and compare these perceptions to child scores. Child assessments focused on letter and numeral knowledge. These data were collected from 387 children (52% boys), including 28% ESL children. Adult perspectives were collected from 141 parents (who rated one child each) and from 30 teachers (who rated 380 children). Findings indicated (a) children’s letter and numeral knowledge did not significantly vary by ESL status; (b) teachers, but not parents, rated ESL children significantly lower on literacy knowledge compared to non-ESL children; (c) teacher and, to a lesser extent, parent perceptions of children’s literacy and numeracy knowledge were positively associated with children’s scores; and (d) teacher perception of numeracy was significantly more aligned with children’s numeral knowledge compared to parent perception. Discussion of these findings is included.

Profiles of Poor Decoders, Poor Comprehenders, and Typically Developing Readers in Adolescents Learning English as a Second Language

This study examined (a) the identification of various reading groups across languages in Chinese (L1) adolescents learning English as a second language (ESL), in terms of their word-reading and reading comprehension skills, (b) overlap in reading group membership across languages, and (c) the performance of the various reading groups on reading-related language comprehension measures in English. The participants were 246 eighth-grade students from an English-immersion program in a middle school in China. Latent profile analysis identified three reading groups in each language: (a) a typically developing reader group with average or above-average word-reading and reading comprehension, (b) a group with poor decoding/word-reading skills and weak reading comprehension, and (c) a group with poor reading comprehension in the absence of poor decoding/word reading. The overlap in profile characteristics across languages for typically developing readers and poor decoders was high (about 68% for typically developing readers and 54% for poor decoders), whereas the overlap for being poor comprehenders in each language was moderate (about 37%). Furthermore, poor decoders in either language performed more poorly than the typically developing and poor comprehender groups on word reading in the other language, while poor comprehenders in either language performed more poorly than the typically developing and poor decoder groups on reading comprehension in the other language. The comparison of the reading groups’ performance on English reading-related language comprehension measures showed that poor comprehenders and poor decoders performed worse than typically developing readers. Implications for identification and instruction of ESL children with reading difficulties are discussed.

Mechanisms by which morphological awareness contributes to Chinese and English reading comprehension

BackgroundResearch has established the link between morphological awareness and reading comprehension. However, the theoretical mechanisms underlying the association remain unclear. This study examined the direct and indirect effects of morphological awareness on reading comprehension in L1 Chinese and L2 English, with a sample of Chinese children who speak English as a second language (ESL). We tested theoretically driven predictions regarding the ways in which morphological awareness might impact reading comprehension.MethodsOne hundred and fifty‐six children in Grades 3 and 4 completed Chinese and English measures of morphological awareness (English: derivational awareness; Chinese: compound awareness), expressive vocabulary, word reading and reading comprehension, in addition to age, working memory and the other language's word definitions as control measures.ResultsFor both languages, analyses showed that morphological awareness had significant direct effects on both English and Chinese reading comprehension above and beyond mediators and control variables. In addition, morphological awareness had significant indirect effects on reading comprehension mediated by word reading (indirect path 1) as well as vocabulary and word reading in sequence (indirect path 2) after taking control variables into account. Vocabulary did not emerge as a mediator for either the English or the Chinese models.ConclusionsThe results underscore the importance of morphology for reading comprehension and reveal the potential mechanisms that underpin their relations in L1 Chinese and L2 English. Our findings further specify the role of morphology in the reading systems framework and highlight the value of incorporating morphology into reading instruction for Chinese ESL children.

Second language learners who are at-risk for reading disabilities: A growth mixture model study

This one-year longitudinal study examined the developmental trajectories of English reading in Chinese children learning English as a second language (ESL) and identified cognitive profiles of children who are at risk for English reading disability. One hundred and eighty-four Chinese ESL children from eight Hong Kong kindergartens were measured four times during their last year of kindergarten for phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary and English word reading. Growth mixture modeling was applied to classify the children based on their growth trajectories in English word reading. Four subgroups of word reading growth were classified, namely high-achieving, fast-growth, slow-growth and low-achieving groups. The cognitive-linguistic skills were compared across different groups with age, non-verbal intelligence and receptive vocabulary in L1 controlled. The results showed that low-achieving groups, who were expected to be at-risk for L2 reading disability, showed deficits in letter-name knowledge, phonemic awareness, and receptive and expressive vocabulary. Fast-growth and high-achieving groups were not distinguishable on the measured cognitive-linguistic skills. Children in the low-growth groups were significantly weaker in phonemic awareness, receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary than children in the high-achieving group. Our findings identified specific cognitive-linguistic deficits that were associated with children who are at-risk for reading disability. Implications for the early identification of L2 reading disability were discussed.

From Lexical Tone to Lexical Stress: A Cross-Language Mediation Model for Cantonese Children Learning English as a Second Language.

This study investigated how Cantonese lexical tone sensitivity contributed to English lexical stress sensitivity among Cantonese children who learned English as a second language (ESL). Five-hundred-and-sixteen second-to-third grade Cantonese ESL children were tested on their Cantonese lexical tone sensitivity, English lexical stress sensitivity, general auditory sensitivity, and working memory. Structural equation modeling revealed that Cantonese lexical tone sensitivity contributed to English lexical stress sensitivity both directly, and indirectly through the mediation of general auditory sensitivity, in which the direct pathway had a larger relative contribution to English lexical stress sensitivity than the indirect pathway. These results suggest that the tone-stress association might be accounted for by joint phonological and acoustic processes that underlie lexical tone and lexical stress perception.

English expressive vocabulary growth and its unique role in predicting English word reading: A longitudinal study involving Hong Kong Chinese ESL children

This longitudinal study examined the developmental trajectory of English expressive vocabulary and its relationship to English word reading in a sample of 141 Hong Kong children learning English as a second language (ESL). The children were observed six times at 3-month intervals over 15months, from the spring of their second year of kindergarten (K2) to the end of their third year (K3). The development of English expressive vocabulary was nonlinear during the assessment period. With age, nonverbal IQ, English phonological awareness, letter knowledge and Chinese character reading controlled, the initial level of expressive vocabulary predicted English word reading 15months later. More importantly, the expressive vocabulary growth rate during the 15months also predicted English word reading. Our findings underscore the predictive power of the growth trajectory of expressive vocabulary in Hong Kong ESL children. Practical implications of the study are discussed.

The pathway to English word reading in Chinese ESL children: the role of spelling

The present longitudinal study investigated the role of spelling as a bridge between various reading-related predictors and English word reading in Chinese children learning English as a Second Language (ESL). One hundred and forty-one 5-year-old kindergarten children from Hong Kong, whose first language (L1) was Cantonese and second language (L2) was English, were administered tests of phonological awareness, letter knowledge, English vocabulary, spelling and English word reading at three time points (T1, T2 and T3) at 3-month intervals over a 6-month period. Nonverbal IQ was included as a control variable. The results showed that phonological awareness, letter knowledge and English vocabulary at T1 all predicted English word reading (T3) through spelling (T2). Further mediation analyses showed that, for phonological awareness and English vocabulary, full mediation effects were found. For letter knowledge, a partial mediation effect was observed. These results suggest that, in Chinese ESL kindergarteners, reading-related predictors foster word reading via spelling, a process that intersects phonology, orthography and semantics. Practical implications of these findings were also discussed.

Predictors of spelling and writing skills in first- and second-language learners

Cognitive and linguistic components related to spelling and writing in English as a second language (ESL) and native-English speaking (EL1) third graders were examined. ESL and EL1 children performed similarly on rapid naming, phonological awareness (PA), verbal short-term and working memory, reading fluency, single-word spelling, text spelling, handwriting fluency, and paragraph writing fluency tasks, and on writing quality indices. ESL children scored lower on vocabulary, syntactic awareness and decoding fluency measures. PA predicted single-word spelling for EL1 and PA and rapid naming predicted single-word spelling for ESL. PA and rapid naming contributed to text level spelling across groups. Rapid naming and syntactic awareness predicted writing quality (content and structure) for ESL children, but syntactic awareness and oral vocabulary predicted writing quality for EL1. Transcription predicted overall writing achievement for ESL, but transcription, vocabulary, and syntactic awareness were all important to overall writing ability for EL1. Results are discussed in relation to the componential model of writing in a first or a second language.

Six Principles of Language Development: Implications for Second Language Learners

The number of children growing up in dual language environments is increasing in the United States. Despite the apparent benefits of speaking two languages, children learning English as a second language (ESL) often face struggles, as they may experience poverty and impoverished language input at home. Early exposure to a rich language environment is crucial for ESL children’s academic success. This article explores how six evidenced-based principles of language learning can be used to provide support for ESL children.

Sub-syllabic Processing in Young Korean–English Bilinguals: Semivowel Placement Differences Between Korean and English

This study investigated the sub-syllabic awareness of two groups of 86 Korean kindergarteners learning English as a foreign language (EFL) or English as a second language (ESL). In addition, it explored the cross-language transfer of sub-syllabic units between Korean and English by taking into account their lexical abilities with respect to the two languages. The participants were assessed in Korean and English based on their sound oddity and similarity judgments with respect to sub-syllabic units in spoken pseudo-syllables containing semivowels (e.g., /j/ and /w/) as well as on a lexical ability test. The results indicate that EFL and ESL children preferred body structure and rime structure, respectively, regardless of the language. These results provide support for the bilingual interactive activation model; that is, bilingual lexicon may be represented in language non-selective access. Further, the differences in semivowel placement between Korean and English may be a possible resource for language-specific sub-syllabic awareness.

The Role of Phonological Awareness in Biliteracy Acquisition Among Hong Kong Chinese Kindergarteners Who Learn English-as-a-Second Language (ESL)

Phonological awareness has been repeatedly reported as important for learning to read in different orthographies. It is important to understand what specific levels of phonological awareness are involved in Chinese and English for Chinese children who learn English-as-a-second-language (ESL). Measures of phonological awareness, word reading, letter name knowledge, receptive vocabulary, and non-verbal intelligence were administered to 94 Hong Kong Chinese ESL kindergarteners. In terms of within-language associations, phoneme awareness but not syllable and rhyme awareness explained unique additional variance in English word reading. Tone awareness but not rhyme awareness uniquely explained Chinese word reading. Regarding cross-language associations, L2 syllable awareness but not L2 phoneme and rhyme awareness had significant unique contribution to Chinese reading and L1 tone awareness had significant unique contribution to English reading. Phonological awareness at different grain sizes is involved in Chinese and English reading among young ESL children. The current findings support the psycholinguistic grain size theory that language-specific phonological awareness skills are involved in reading acquisition of different orthographies. The demonstrated bi-directional cross-language transfers of phonological awareness at specific linguistic levels partially support the idea that general phonological sensitivity is necessary for beginning reading acquisition.

Linguistic, Reading, and Transcription Influences on Kindergarten Writing in Children with English as a Second Language

The contribution of linguistic, reading, and transcription processes to writing in kindergarten English as a second language (ESL) children and their native-English speaking peers (EL1) were examined. ESL and EL1 performed similarly on one of the two measures of phonological awareness (PA) and on measures of early reading, spelling, and writing. EL1 outperformed ESL on a pseudoword repetition task and on the English vocabulary and syntactic knowledge tasks. ESL outperformed EL1 on a writing fluency measure. Correlation and hierarchical regression results varied as a function of the writing tasks (procedural or generative) and language status. Across language groups, writing tasks that captured children's developing graphophonemic knowledge were associated with a breadth of cognitive, linguistic, and early literacy skills. PA, reading, and transcription skills, but not oral vocabulary and syntactic knowledge contributed the most variance to writing irrespective of language status. The results suggest that parallel component skills and processes underlie ESL and EL1 children's early writing when formal literacy instruction begins in kindergarten even though ESL children are developing English oral and literacy proficiency simultaneously.

Helping Children to Learn at Home: A Family Project to Support Young English-Language Learners

The Coalition for Equal Access to Education (CEAE) is a Calgary-based nonprofit organization committed to working with community, education, and government stakeholders to promote access to quality, equitable education and services for K-12 English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners. CEAE is active in developing innovative projects, research publications, and informing policy and decision-makers on issues that affect education and services for children and youth. In addition, the organization engages in community development initiatives through literacy development support for ethnocultural children and youth, leadership training on active parental involvement, and promotion of systemic change and cultural competence. In its work to address the complex needs of ESL children, families, and the professionals who support them, the CEAE has developed Helping Children Learn at Home, a parents’ program that supports ethnocultural parents in creating healthy learning environments in the home, in understanding better and addressing their young children’s learning needs, learning about the Canadian education system, and contributing to decision-making processes in schools and in the community that affects their children’s educational success. This article describes the program and the pilot session completed in February 2011. The evaluation phase included feedback from the participants, the CEAE staff, and the curriculum developers in order to produce and publish a completed version of the document, which will be available for use by other agencies.

Phonological awareness and oral language proficiency in learning to read English among Chinese kindergarten children in Hong Kong

Learning to read is very challenging for Hong Kong children who learn English as a second language (ESL), as they must acquire two very different writing systems, beginning at the age of three. Few studies have examined the role of phonological awareness at the subsyllabic levels, oral language proficiency, and L1 tone awareness in L2 English reading among Hong Kong ESL kindergarteners. This study aims to investigate L1 and L2 phonological awareness and oral language proficiency as predictors of English reading among children with Chinese as L1. One hundred and sixty-one typically developing children with a mean age of 5.16 (SD=.35) selected from seven preschools in Hong Kong. Participants were assessed for English reading, English and Chinese phonological awareness at different levels, English oral language skills, and letter naming ability. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both oral language proficiency and phonological awareness measures significantly predicted L2 word reading, when statistically controlled for age and general intelligence. Among various phonological awareness units, L2 phonemic awareness was the best predictor of L2 word reading. Cross-language transfer was shown with L1 phonological awareness at the tone level, uniquely predicting L2 word reading. The present findings show the important role of phonological awareness at the subsyllabic levels (rime and phoneme) and oral language proficiency in the course of L2 reading development in Chinese ESL learners. The significant contribution of L1 tone awareness to L2 reading suggests that phonological sensitivity is a general competence that ESL children need to acquire in early years. The findings have significant implications for understanding L2 reading development and curriculum development.

Remediating Reading Comprehension Difficulties: A Cognitive Processing Approach

The efficacy of a cognitive-based remediation program was investigated with 14 English-as-a-second-language (ESL) poor readers in Grade 4 who had significant difficulty in comprehension and 14 normal ESL readers in Grade 4 who received no remediation. Both groups were selected from 2 English-medium schools in India. We examined pretest-to-posttest changes in word reading, comprehension, and planning–attention–simultaneous–successive cognitive processes. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) showed marked improvement in comprehension and some improvement in simultaneous processing for the treated group. The results indicate that the cognitive-based remediation program has potential for substantially improving comprehension and its underlying cognitive process among ESL children.

Neighbourhood Ethnic Diversity Buffers School Readiness Impact in ESL Children

Contextual factors, as measured by neighbourhood characteristics, shape the experiences children have and affect their "school readiness", i.e., whether they are well or poorly prepared for the transition from home to kindergarten. This study assessed the independent effects of individual and neighbourhood factors on school readiness; specifically, it examined whether and to what degree neighbourhood factors modified children's language ability and thus their school readiness in a population of children in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The study included all children attending kindergarten in 2001, 2003 and 2005 in Saskatoon. School readiness and child characteristics were measured by the Early Development Instrument (EDI). The EDI measures child development at school commencement in five domains: physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, cognitive and language development, and communication skills and general knowledge. Data from the 2001 Census were used to characterize Saskatoon's neighbourhoods. Multilevel modeling examined the independent and buffering or exacerbating effects of individual and neighbourhood factors on the relation between English as a Second Language (ESL) status in children and EDI domain scores. ESL children had significantly lower scores on all EDI domains compared with non-ESL children. Certain factors (e.g., younger age, male, Aboriginal status, having special needs) were significantly related to lower readiness in terms of the emotional maturity, and communication skills and general knowledge domains. Importantly, children who lived in neighbourhoods that were highly transient (with a higher proportion of residents who had moved in the previous year) had lower EDI scores on both domains, and those in neighbourhoods with lower rates of employment had lower EDI scores on communication skills and general knowledge. Neighbourhood ethnic diversity mitigated the negative impact of ESL status on school readiness for both domains. ESL children from neighbourhoods with a high degree of ethnic diversity had higher EDI scores than ESL children from neighbourhoods with low ethnic diversity. The current study provided insight regarding the impact of contextual factors in addition to individual factors, such as ESL status, on school readiness outcomes. Future research should continue to examine contextual factors related to ESL status and early child developmental outcomes, particularly focusing on the mechanisms of influence.

Functions and genres of ESL children’s English writing at home and at school

Drawing on a sociocultural perspective of genre as a social action situated in a particular context, this study examined the functions and genres of four second-grade ESL (English as a Second Language) children’s English writing at home and at school. The two boys and two girls were born and raised in Canada, speaking English at school and with their siblings, and Cantonese at home with their parents. A total of 67 pieces of school writing and 54 pieces of home writing were collected over a five-week period. Findings show that home writing exhibit a wider range of functions and genres than school writing. The study suggests that teachers should be aware of the value of the writing opportunities and contexts bicultural children have at home and, therefore, incorporate such home experiences into classroom teaching to enrich the process of literacy development.

The development of vocabulary in English as a second language children and its role in predicting word recognition ability

ABSTRACTDo older English as a second language (ESL) children have the same knowledge of word meanings as English as a first language (EL1) children? How important is vocabulary's role in predicting word recognition in these groups? This study sought to answer these questions by examining the profiles of ESL and EL1 upper elementary aged children, for a 2-year period starting in Grade 5. Multivariate analyses revealed that (a) EL1 and ESL groups did not differ on underlying processing components (e.g., phonological awareness [PA], rapid automatized naming [RAN], and working memory [WM]) or on word recognition, but ESL children continued to lag behind their EL1 peers on knowledge of word meanings that correspond approximately to their grade level; and (b) vocabulary knowledge (root words and receptive vocabulary), explained a small proportion of additional variance on word recognition concurrently and longitudinally after accounting for the contributions of PA, RAN, and WM.

The Effects of Integrated Language‐Based Instruction in Elementary ESL Learning

The purpose of this research study is to compare the effectiveness of 2 different instructional approaches to language instruction—integrated (oral plus written) versus oral‐only instruction—in developing oral language skills of young students learning English as a second language (ESL). Drawing upon 2 competing research perspectives on young ESL children's English language learning, this study examined the question “Does integrated, language‐based intervention lead to greater gains in the oral language development of focus ESL students than oral language‐based intervention?” The study participants were 2 beginning ESL students—one from Korea (Yun) and one from China (Yang)—enrolled in kindergarten in a multicultural school in a Midwestern state (student names are pseudonyms). Results from the 2 focus students' performances on multiple oral language assessment measures showed that integrated, language‐based intervention led to greater gains in the focus students' oral language development than did an exclusively oral language‐based intervention. Thus, the key instructional issue is not whether literacy should be used for beginning ESL students, but rather in what ways is literacy most effective in supporting ESL students' language and cognitive development.

BRIDGING DISCOURSES IN THE ESL CLASSROOM: STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND RESEARCHERS. Pauline Gibbons

BRIDGING DISCOURSES IN THE ESL CLASSROOM: STUDENTS, TEACHERS, AND RESEARCHERS. Pauline Gibbons . New York: Continuum, 2006. Pp. 256. $60.00 paper. In English-speaking countries with large numbers of immigrants, like the United States and Australia, children from non-English-speaking families are very likely to encounter difficulties in learning English and content knowledge simultaneously. In particular, one of the greatest challenges for English as a second language (ESL) children lies in their tendency to use everyday language (i.e., language acquired in informal situations, such as playing) in academic settings. Gibbons' work presents a research project that examines real-life content-based classroom interactions in which ESL children's English and content knowledge learning are facilitated. It makes an invaluable contribution to the effort to help ESL learners make a successful transition from everyday informal language to specialized academic registers.